Feels like we left a few brands out. Echolette and Dynacord in their own rights,but there were others too.
One of these others is in my opinion the Hohner MH series. True enough Hohner made other tube amps too,but the MH series are in my opinion rather sturdy built amps that in stock form will give a Fender Twin a run for the money any day Hhem some MIGHTY fine clean amps. In fact,to this day i doubt that i´ve ever heard nicer tremolo and reverb then them onboard a Hohner MH.
Apart from that MH-25 up there i also have an MH-50 head. The latter being the more powerful,obviously,but already from MH-25 and upwards a Hohner will suffice in modified form for use even with the loudest rocknroll band. Handed overdriven signal them twin PL-84´s will deliver,take my word for it.
The one in the picture has been my weapon of choice for numerous gigs. Main reasons being that,of course,it sounds "da bomb" and that aside..it´s all i need in a rather portable package.
Since the advent of that MH-25 in modded form i´ve been on the lookout either for yet another MH.45/MH-50 or a MH-60. The latter being an amp that sports the EL-503´s,which i´m rather familiar and fond of.
True enough they´re expensive powertubes,but they´re also real sturdy and real powerful (this goes for the EL-504 too btw)
The MH amps does have its drawbacks though. They´re NOT built by "German" standards and to be honest they can strike you as downright sloppy put together.
They´ve even got a few point which i for one at least regard as poor engineering. Them being amps with a separate power and preamp stage the wiring loom between the two parts stem from a soldersupport atop the powertransformer. In my book that´s a no-go as less informed people can get to that solderstrip...and hurt themselves.
In turn there´s a highly loaded resistor that resides at that same solderstrip that is for the reverb and this is underestimated for load. Ergo it is real common that this resistor is blown,and hence the amp lacks its reverb function.
In fact,as you get into it the entire two sections need tidying up in my opinion. That doesn´t deprive from these wonderful amps sound though. Albeit the stock speakers often being of low dB efficiency..that can always be handled and..these amps DO sound absolutely lovely as is.
If clean sound is your thing....
In fact,were i to chose between a Fender Twin and a highpowered MH today my vote goes for the MH. It´s THAT good.
Here´s my solution to making the amp way more safe-to everyone. That there socket is rather cheap after all and makes for all the difference. Signal in turn is sent from the preamp the other side of the chassis and is hardwired in place stock. I replace that with a common RCA dito,making the whole thing detachable.
If rocknroll is more your game....which it is to me...these amps make for absolutely tremendous platforms to work from.
